In 2005 Mary Susan and Delk Kennedy, Sam's parents, bought five Katahdin sheep ewes and a Katahdin ram named "Larry." Today, by retaining ewes Glendale Farm has have over 200 Katahdin sheep and are still growing. Not many farmers in Middle Tennessee raise sheep, and very few people in the country, aside from a few foodies and top chefs, know of the fantastic flavor of Katahdin lamb.

We didn't know it either. Someone at a grazing conference had suggested that Katahdins were good complimentary grazers to cows, so we tried five. We also didn't know the magical flavor effects of combining Katahdin sheep with Middle Tennessee grass or that Katahdin sheep could be "finished" on nothing but their mother's milk and Middle Tennessee grasses.

That magic was discovered by accident, not realizing it until we home-harvested one of our lambs and invited a few friends to a lamb supper. Everyone was blown away. It was better lamb than anyone had ever had, whether the lamb came from New Zealand, Australia or the United States. Even the don't-like-lamb-people loved it. You can see here what happened next.

Katahdin Lamb is an American Breed of Sheep

Specifically Developed For Flavorful Meat

So, what are these sheep? Katahdin is a breed of hair sheep (no wool) developed in the United States. The Katahdin breed originated in the 1950’s at the Piel Farm in north central Maine where Michael Piel was an innovator who enjoyed raising livestock. He sought a better breed of all-American sheep for the table. The resulting breed was named for Mt. Katahdin, the tallest mountain in Maine. Katahdin are lean lambs with an excellent mild flavor.

Most lamb available for the table in the United States comes from wool sheep in Australia or New Zealand. When American lamb is available, it largely comes from sheep flocks in the American west. These sheep were bred for their wool producing qualities, not for the table. They are typically "finished" for the table on grain.

We discovered that a Katahdin lamb could be "finished" on the unique salad bar of grass available here in Middle Tennessee. In our temperate Middle Tennessee climate we have 55 inches of rain and both warm and cool season grasses --- 125 miles north, south, east or west --- not so. We still have three months of winter making it very difficult to finish an animal as large as a cow with good marbling without using grain. But no one had ever thought about sheep!

Glendale Farm lambs are finished completely on their mother's milk and Middle Tennessee grasses -- that's it, nothing else -- no grain, no supplements, no hormones, not anything else but mom's milk and grass. Glendale Farm's chemical free and sweet Middle Tennessee grasses give the naturally good Katahdin lambs a texture and flavor we believe is not obtainable anywhere else.